It seems the majority of the people who like God of Study mostly liked it for the kids and their interactions with each other. So I decided to focus more on the little things they do and make the…dragging parts less significant.

Episode 9 Recap

After the revelation of the internet advertisements for Anthony Yang’s English class, the F5 have become -even more of- a laughingstock at their school. The ads proudly displayed the previous ranks of the students; the bottom of their class.

The familiar bullies from before mock their newfound popularity and jokingly ask for their autographs. Baek-hyun, fed up with their antics, drops his bag on the ground and pulls an incredible ninja move knocking them all to the ground. He grabs the leader and says to him, “If you bother the kids of my class one more time, you die.” With that, he takes off with his bad-boy attitude and the rest of the F5 carefully follow him. As they walk away, Baek-hyun reminds the other kids to prove they’re worth. They need to ace their exams.

The kids aren’t the only ones having problems. The teachers are answering the never-ending rain of phone calls asking about the “special class”. They’re all fed up with the news, especially Director Ma-ri. But Seok-ho doesn’t understand what is so embarrassing for Ma-ri. The school is already known for being at the bottom. Everyone knows she just wants the school off her hands already. What more is there to be embarrassed about?

The best thing to do is to calm down so the kids have peaceful environments for their midterms. The kids are discouraged about the embarrassment, but Teacher Soo-jung chastises them for caring about how others feel. “We’ll just pay them back for studying hard.” When that doesn’t work, she says “Well, you guys looked good in those pictures!” HA. Because that is really going to make them feel better.

Admist the negativity, Hyun-jung had one positive outcome from this mess: ever since the ads surfaced, she’s received many visits to her homepage (akin to a Facebook or Twitter) and has received numerous acquisitions for dates from guys she doesn’t know. HAHAH. With this, she looks for Baek-hyun’s reaction. He is surprised, but not jealous. Hyun-jung is disappointed. Heh.

Baek-hyun assures Teacher Soo-jung that they’re not going to worry. On that note, they are all to shoot for perfect scores. Baek-hyun answers with a resounding “OK!”

And the midterms begin. Right as they start, they’re practicing their pre-test study, concentration, and meditation tactics. It’s game time. Director Ma-ri clicks down the hallways in her extremo-high heels, and she hands out the tests. The kids wish each other good luck in their own ways, Bong-goo and Chan-doo with a manly fist move, Hyun-jung blowing a kiss to her suhbang. Man, these kids are cute. I love Baek-hyun’s small smile at Hyun-jung. In real life, he must have thought that was adorable.

Baek-hyun struggles a little bit during the test, but he remembers his goal: he must get Seok-ho to do whatever he wants. He must have Seok-ho kneel before him. With that he knows, he got this.

“Ten minutes remaining.” Crunch time. Pul-ip sees she made a mistake on her answer sheet so she quickly asks for a new one. Baek-hyun is also struggling to remember a certain memory tree, and it suddenly flashes in his mind. “When gravity is at work, the dynamics of energy are affected.” Heh. Go Baek-hyun!

Anthony is finally back. While Seok-ho demands to know why he illegally advertised the kids, Anthony dismisses his criticism, reminding Seok-ho he is not pure himself. Anthony slyly reveals he knows that Chan-doo’s mother’s monetary contributions. Soo-jung intervenes just in time to prevent Seok-ho from throwing Anthony out of the window. Seok-ho demands Anthony -err here he uses his real name Yang Chum-sam,- to make a formal apology on his website and to the kids directly. Anthony arrogantly responds that he doesn’t want to, which further agitates the situation. Seok-ho is about to blow a capillary, but Soo-jung tells him to count to 100 and not leave until he does. This sparks a memory in Seok-ho –some older lady said the same exact thing to him before.

Anthony is about to leave, but the principle stops him.

After the test, the kids are drained. Soo-jung hands out the answers and the kids check to see what they got wrong. Baek-hyun speeds through the tests circling every answer right. He circles every one. With that, the other kids have confidence to check their tests. Baek-hyun did it. He got two 100’s in Science and English. What a boss.

Chan-doo finishes checking his tests and he’s super surprised too. He missed 3 in Science and only 1 on English. The rest check their answers and each of them did exceptionally well. The verdict for today’s tests? Everyone did great! They all jump for joy and even Baek-hyun looks happy.

But Seok-ho comes in. And destroys the mood. “Don’t you guys know they wanted to raise the averages so they made the test easy?” JERK. What do they do now? Study even harder! Baek-hyun gets up and flatly tells Seok-ho he’s going home. “I can’t waste that valuable second or minute listening to you nag.” Seok-ho is baffled but amused.

The rest of the teachers formulated a request to have Seok-ho removed. Ma-ri stated her requirements beforehand: three strong reasons to have him removed. To her surprise, the teachers have their plan all laid out. 1) Attorney Kang’s excessive teaching methods. 2) Teacher Anthony’s advertisements incident. 3) They don’t have another reason. Haha. But they’re not completely surrendering. Anthony will be present at the meeting with the WBG. But Ma-ri decides to stall the meeting after the midterms are over.

Bong-goo is back in the room, alone. The front page of his test already has three marked wrong. He didn’t do well. Seok-ho comes in and asks if he will mess up tomorrow’s test too. He didn’t try his best. If he can still make excuses, he didn’t try his best. Imagine as if your life is on the line on tomorrow’s tests. Seok-ho demands a ferocious look in Bong-goo’s eyes, but his puppy dog-face can only muster so much.

At the restaurant, Bong-goo immersed his head into the freezer. He wants to sleep, but he can’t lose this battle with sleep. He cries out in frustration and his dad tries to comfort him.

In Baek-hyun’s home, he’s busy at work studying. Grandma quietly enters and sings a little song to herself. Grandma is so happy that Baek-hyun is studying so hard. She’s worried about bothering him while he studies, but he says “Hearing you sing makes these math problems almost solve themselves.”

AWW. Such a sweet grandson. With that, Grandma affectionately pats his bottom. Haha. He may seem all-tough on the outside, but on the inside, he’s such a softie.

Baek-hyun: “Grandma, you have to live for a long, long time.”
Grandma: “Don’t worry. I’m going to keep these two eyes open for another thousand, ten thousand years and enjoy what my grandson can do for me.”

AIGOO. What a good boy.

Back in class, Seok-ho is asking Soo-jung to teach English again in Anthony’s place. Ki-bong immediately counters this suggestion and defends Anthony. Even though Anthony wronged them, he is still their teacher. No matter what he did, Seok-ho has no right to break any ties like that. Seok-ho will just have to “clean up this dirty mess”.

Pul-ip is busy studying at home and she gets a text from Hyun-jung telling her to come over. Pul-ip heads downstairs, and her mom is sitting quietly by herself writing in a journal. When Pul-ip asks where her beau is, her mom tells her he’s afraid to come. She’s about to head out, but she sees her mom looking so solemn.

In Chan-doo’s house, his dad walks into his room and sees all his hard work. Study papers are taped to the walls, and books papers are everywhere on his desk. Chan-doo is lying? halfway on the ground and halfway on a chair. He’s fallen asleep holding a book in his arms. His mom suddenly enters and Chan-doo’s dad regains his tough composure. She wakes Chan-doo up, and he’s surprised to see his dad in his room. His dad scolds him for falling asleep that way and he gruffly leaves. It’s sad how Chan-doo’s father clearly loves him so much but he’s so afraid to show it. Nothing bad will happen if you tell him you care about him Papa Hong!

In Anthony’s dance studio, he’s working on his moves. Awkward. He reminisces about the Chun ha class, and he’s torn. Suddenly Seok-ho appears (“Oh ma-i gadt). Anthony goes on the defensive and asks how his feels. Seok-ho instead presents him with a contact agreeing that he will teach them as a volunteer. Meaning he will teach them for free. If he feels any bit of regret, he’ll come back and teach for free.

Pul-ip is at Hyun-jung’s house and she gets a text from Chan-doo.

Chan-doo: “I’m so sleepy.”
Pul-ip: “ if you go to sleep, you’re dead. All of us have to score 100’s tomorrow.”
Chan-doo: “If I get all 100’s, what will you give me for a prize?”
Pul-ip: “What do you mean by prize?”
Chan-doo: “Then I guess I’ll just go to sleep.”
Pul-ip: “Okay, okay, I’ll ive you a prize. Get 100’s.”
Chan-doo: “Really?!”
Pul-ip: “Just get the 100’s first.”

He’s They’re so cute.

Hyun-jung is annoyed with all the fuss Pul-ip is going through with Chan-doo, but Pul-ip knows this is the only way to get him to study. But Hyun-jung has another idea. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe Chan-doo is the one Pul-ip likes, not Baek-hyun. Pul-ip just laughs at her and continues to quiz her. Even though Pul-ip may not think much of Chan-doo’s prize, he is clearly motivated by this. He dances around his room holding a study book and is popping moves left and right. He even made a “Let’s receive a prize from Pul-ip!” poster on his wall. Hahaha. I wish I was this motivated by someone. Goodness, why is he so cute.

While a prize from Pul-ip pumps up Chan-doo, Bong-goo is still struggling with staying awake. He has tied a bunch of his hair to a rope tied to the ceiling. He shakes himself awake and forces himself to stay awake. Finally his head comes all the way down to the table, and his dad is seen with scissors holding some of the rope.

On this last test, Baek-hyun works with ease and breaks into a small grin. He knows he did awesome. After school, they head to a café and celebrate. The tests were made easy, but they’re still happy knowing their scores improved. Baek-hyun even think he got 100’s. But he doesn’t know for sure. He’ll have to wait until his report card comes. Even though they’re celebrating, Baek-hyun still has to go to work. Bong-goo eventually leaves also.

Pul-ip and Chan-doo are left by themselves, and he promptly asks for his prize. She asks him what he wants, and he takes her to a bench. For his prize, he just wants her to sit with him. She laughs at him asking how he can be exactly the same way he was in kindergarten. He asks that they sit there for one hour. That’ll be his prize. Pul-ip sees a flower shop in the distance, and she makes sure it’s Friday. Something special is tomorrow. Something special that Chan-doo has to do with her.

Soo-jung is happy about the test scores, but Seok-ho reminds her that many other kids in other classes received perfect scores. She disregards this comment and takes it as something is going on between Seok-ho and Baek-hyun. Ma-ri comes in and Soo-jung is about to leave with her to visit her Ma-ri’s dad. As Ma-ri is director in place for her dad, Seok-ho thought it was be appropriate to visit him with them.

Ma-ri’s dad isn’t in a good condition, but she warmly greets him with a smile. Her dad sees Seok-ho and calls him “Dr. Kim”. Ma-ri tries to correct her father, but Seok-ho steps in and greets him as this Dr. Kim. In the waiting room, Ma-ri explains who Dr. Kim was. He was from a chaebol (old money, lots and lots and lots of old money) family, and he was supposed to marry her. But he pulled out of the engagement when her family had financial troubles. She hid this from her dad because she thought it would worsen his health. Ma-ri thanks Seok-ho for acting as Dr. Lee, and he briskly walks off, leaving her in amazement at his oh-so-cool attitude,

Baek-hyun settles in for the night, and smiles as he falls asleep. He stands in front of Seok-ho and flashes the perfect report card. Kids surround them and demand he gets on his knees. When he reaches the ground, they all cheer. But this wasn’t Baek-hn’s dream. This was Seok-ho’s! Haha.

At school the next day, he congratulates them for doing better, but warns them not to get cocky. He looks at their report cards and except for Hyun-jung’s getting better, the rest are the same. Except for Baek-hyun’s. He nervously goes to the front, and sees his scores. B’s. He didn’t make any mistakes on the tests. He made all his mistakes marking in his answers. He couldn’t read his own handwriting so he marked in the wrong answers. Ki-bong chews him out for this, but Baek-hyun can’t accept what happened. Baek-hyun crumples up the paper and runs out. The other kids try to stop him, but Seok-ho stops them. He needs to understand what he did. Only then will Baek-hyun not make the same mistake.

In their Korean class, Eun-yoo notices Baek-hyun has run off again. So she assigns Pul-ip the task of re-teaching the material to Baek-hyun. Bong-goo tells her that Hyun-jung is in charge of Baek-hyun, but Eun-yoo responds saying, “I think he’ll like it better from her.” Heheh.

Back in the gym, Baek-hyun looks like he’s just about given up on life. Seok-ho finds him and chastises him for acting this way. The biggest hurdle in anyone’s life is emotion. Emotion determines whether you succeed or fail. *Cue inspirational music. Take this opportunity and move forward because of it. Baek-hyun might just make Seok-ho kneel in front of him one day.

Anthony is about to go into the WBG meeting, but Pul-ip pulls him away. There’s something going on and she needs all the teachers there. SURPRISE! The kids planned a little party for the teachers. They even have a song! Each teacher is then given a little flower and a positive, warm comment. Soo-jung starts tearing up, and Anthony is even given a flower. Pul-ip catches Seok-ho walking away and she stops him saying “teacher!” He reminds her that he is not her teacher, but he thanks her for putting the ceremony together anyways. He catches Baek-hyun in the hallway and tells him to go and study.

Back in the WBG meeting, Ma-ri stalls by deciding to take everyone out to eat. Ma-ri assumes Seok-ho has visit to thank her, but he came to drop off expense reports. She’s flabbergasted. Seok-ho runs into Soo-jung on the way out and asks her to eat dinner with him. Ma-ri sees this and is a little hurt.

Baek-hyun is still trying to get all his frustrations out, and he’s fighting real hard. He reaches for his phone and pauses, on Pul-ip’s phone number. She finds the strawberry leaves from the strawberries he gave her, and she’s about to call him but she remembers about Hyun-jung. But she gets a call from someone first, and she runs out to meet…Baek-hyun.

He asks her if she was worried about him, and she tells him she was very worried…like a friend. He smiles a little at this, and carefully picks out a flower petal from her hair. He leans over and puts his face a little closer to hers…

Thanks for continuing with God of Study, nokcha icecream! You’re right, I definitely enjoy the kids more than anything else — even though the drama seems to focus on anything BUT them — which is why i think I’ll enjoy reading recaps more than sitting through full episodes. As it is, I could only skim through them to bypass the other storylines.

oh my poor baby, hyun Jung. D:
who plays her character? I finished the entire series and the girl who plays her is a really good actress! She has a very bright future ahead of her! She’s freaking adorable too! <33
chandoo is a hottie omg

I would like to add myself to the “I Liked this drama bcuz of the kids interactions and not so much on the adults storylines.” I was able to watch this on KBS World and would mostly only watch the parts when the friendship was highlighted and then turned the channel when the scenes went onto other less-interesting focus-es, the teachers, drama, etc…

I liked how the drama showed how, why, & the backgrounds of the kids, why they were like they were, what motivated them, how they supported each other and were always there to hold each other up, etc. I loved how, above anything else, friendship is what was highlighted and everything that was in conflict of that was thrown away.

So often in USA tv, the kids are always fighting, backstabbing, sleeping around, or too OTT to be real, just creating too much drama. GoS just let it be mundane enough to be real. Just like real people hanging out, instead of actors on my tv screen.

So I would like to say “thanks nokcha icecream,” for knowing what to write about and for continuing, even though the show has long been over. It will be fun seeing what little bits I missed bcuz I keep turning the channel.

@7 Angel:
I agree with you. Hyun Jung annoys me to no end, until the end. Heck all the time she just try too hard to be cute. Then suddenly she go angsty feel too sorry for herself make everyone around her on trouble. She make Pul Ip & Baek Hyun bear the consequences.

@5 Sososo:
I don’t agree. If U talk about acting, surely it go to Pul Ip. She’s very natural & stable from the beginning until end. Wait ’till U watch episode 13. She get nominee in some Awards for this drama. That proves she better than Hyun Jung.

@6 queen bee:
Until the end I jus’t can’t make up my mind to choose Pul Ip – Chan Doo or Pul Ip – Baek Hyun. Both too adorable.

@bomber … um sososo never said Jiyeon was a better actress, just that she was a good one, and she is an amazing actress, no need to compare her to the one who plays Pulip. There is nothing to compare, they are both very good with the characters they were given, who knows, Jiyeon probably could have done better

Oh no no no… Jiyeon plays Pul Ip? That’s big BUGGER. She will never fit. Pul Ip is so much more complicated character than Hyun Jung who only needs to act cute & angsty. Of course we can compare. There’s reasons WHY it’s Pul Ip & NOT Hyun Jung who gets the Awards nominee.

thank you for recapping this show!!!
i tend to like high school dramas (as i am a teenager myself) so i am glad one is being recapped here
i have never watched it so i cant form a full opinion but i think your recaps are very good and i like reading about the kids
they are making me consider watching it, but i think i would get too bored in the other parts
and naaww- baek hyun with his grandma- i love it when boys are sweet to their families…
anyway, thanks!!

@10 bomber:
Oh, me too! I think I ship both ships, darn it. I like how Baek-hyun seems more “human” or more warm-hearted around Pul-ip, but Chan-doo is like Pul-ip’s knight in shining high school armor, haha. (Remember when he wrapped his arms around her to protect her from the hysterical ajummas trashing her place? I DIE.)

@10 bomber, in my honest opinion, I would say Jiyeon is a better actress .
Go Ah Sung only seems better because she plays a very natural character. Jiyeon is much better at acting out emotional scenes. Her tears fall naturally while Go Ah Sung’s seems forced and awkward. You can also see Jiyeon acting in Soul/Hon; she does very well in that drama too.

The only other drama I saw Go Ah Sung act in was Sad Love Song, and I know I shouldn’t be too critical because she was only a kid at that time, but lord, was she annoying!

Pul Ip crying scene in episode 13 get many praises in Korea, that said to be main reason behind her being chosen as Best New Actress in Baeksang. Hyun Jung looks good when cry because she only feel sad at that time, while Pul Ip at episode 13 feel mixed, between confused, sad, unbelieve, shock, surprised. That’s why she portrayed her crying like that, halt & can’t release it freely.

About Sad Love Song, her character supposed to be irritating, she’s the second female lead child who is villain role. So if you hate her, that’s the prove that she succeed in her acting.

If you read her description in Wikipedia, you know that she already gain many nominations & Awards since 2006 (she only 14 that time!) She one of the youngest actress to gain so many Awards & one of her movie, The Host AKA Gwoemul, is the highest grossing South Korean movie until now, & it said that she’s one of main factor behind the success.

@ bomber, Hyun Jung is also supposed to be annoying in this series , so if you find her annoying, then that also means she’s doing well with her acting.

Really, I have no problem with Go Ah Sung, I just find her characters extremely cliché and annoying. I do like her as a person though. Like when I see her in interviews, she seems like such a sweet, down to earth girl; but in terms of acting, it seems that she still has a long way to go

Very easy, just stop your clinginess en childish behavior toward Baek Hyeon. That just make him dislike you even more LOL. That’s not pretty love, that unhealthy obsession (make my cringe like Twilight Bella en Edward).

What makes me irritated at HJ was not only her characters, b’coz I like Aragaki Yui in Dragon Zakura which was HJ Japanese ver. It’s how she portrayed her character. Jiyeon for me looks forced to bring out HJ cuteness, she looks acting, not natural. She good in crying, but she still can’t show many expressions in 1 frame scene like Yoo Seung Ho & Go Ah Sung. If smile she just look happy, when cry she just look sad. Baek Hyun & Pul Ip when they smile & cry you can see many expresssions build inside them at the same time (from sad, shock, happy, surprised, etc). I’m not a big fan of Go A Sung personally, in fact I just knew her from this drama. But I fan of her acting. If U think her acting not that good, why & where do U think her many Awards recognition come from?

Haha I’m not start a fight, just hot discussion. Besides, what I’m said all is fact. Go A Sung really has nominee in Baeksang Award for this drama with Yoo Seung Ho & Kim Soo Ro, & she really 1 of best young actress in Korea with many praises & Awards recognitions. She can’t be achieve all that if her acting isn’t good?
Haha & I’m not obsessed in Pul Ip. In Japanese ver. I don’t even like Masami Nagasawa (Pulip Japanese ver.). But Go A Sung acting make me change my heart in Korea ver.

i think PULIP is not cliche boring chara. She perhaps give the vibe of nice caring next door type girl, but inside she have fiery, brave, determined albeit stubborn persona. Like when she is the first to join spec.class (without her, CHANDOO * BONGGO won’t join) or when she is the only one brave to refuse BAEKHYUN order to dismiss spec.class. Also when she dare to scold her mom boyfriend ^^

But all in all for me is……….

CHANDOO ♥ PULIP

love when PULIP seem to give CHANDOO chance in the end (love the look she give him when he give support before university test for her and BONGGO).

I say I agree with bomber here. It’s the fact that Ah Sung not Ji Yeon get the Baeksang nominee. Pulip looks natural because Ah Sung portray it natural. If other actress play it no guarantee she will be as natural as Ah Sung. The professional jury know to judge the acting ability so I believe they have solid reasons for that.
I recommend The Host if you want to watch Ah Sung other brilliant performances.

@21: BH def grows accustomed to her clinginess. She has nobody to be next to her, so of course she will use 100% of her love for him. The clinginess for only BH is what make her character shines. Cant even understand that… tsk… stop watching the drama for god’s sake…

Im sorry but there limit to every behavior. You can give your 100% heart to someone (although me not agree), you can clingy to her/him either. Sure cos she lonely etc etc. But call & messaging him whenever/wherever non stop? Follow him everywhere? Dragging him wherever she please? Keep buy him things he don’t want it? blindly defend him although Baekhyun is at the wrong side? She not help him become better person like that. imagine if you in Baekhyun shoes. Do you want a girl/boyfriend like that? Even someone nice like Baekhyun grandma don’t like her too.

seriously this is a really good drama..sure it has its lagging moments but they don’t last very long like most dramas..they also have a good understanding on the use of flashbacks, USE LITTLE OR NONE AT ALL haha..man if i watched this in middle school i would’ve been a frickin magna cum laude by now :p

I like chan doo very very muuuch! Actually his wink, that so cute^^ i cant choose Baekhyun+Pulip or Chandoo+Pulip they’re so amazing, pulip is more better than hyunjung and i thing baekhyun is more confortable together with pulip but Chandoo is the best for Pulip, he saves her too much, pulip is motivated for Chandoo untill finally he got a perfect score its cause motivated from pulip, so i think if pulip the end with chandoo they’ll be the best cute couple^^ oh god i can choose BaekPul or ChanPul i love theeem but i prefer Chanpul xixixi ^^